At Kevin's mercy

23. All ends well?

"Okay, you girls stay here while I'll go get the groceries. And since you both been so good yesterday, I'll bring back a treat."

With that Kevin locked the bedroom door and left.
I sat on the bed and Iris was still in her cage.
For some reason she didn't complain about it this time but intently eyed the door.
The moment we heard the front door close she suddenly sprung into action.
Her sudden burst of movements caught me off guard and startled me.

"What are you doing?"

I asked curiously and little startled as I got closer to the cage, watching her pluck something from under her mattress and start tinkering with the lock on her cage.

"You'll see..."

Was all she said while she focused on what she was doing.
I noticed she had multiple items laid out next to her while she kept looking for something that fit the little gap of the screw she was trying to pry lose.
There were different sizes hairpins, clips and even a nail file.
How did she managed to smuggle all of that into her cage?

I watched in awe while she worked on the lock.
It took her about 10 minutes to open the fingerprint box.
Instead of messing with the wires as I expected her to do she started to do something with one of the hairpins she had bent.
Because it wasn't going as fast as she apparently wanted she was softly cursing under her breath, I stayed quiet because I didn't want to break her concentration.
It still took her another 5 minutes of trial and errors before the lock suddenly opened.
With a big smirk she emerged triumphant from the cage.

"Now it's pay back time."

First she walked to the closet to change her clothes to something more suited for going outside.
I was already dressed in something comfortable and just watched her go around the room, still amazed she got out of the cage in the first place.

"How did you do that?"

Iris was at the bedroom door now, within 5 seconds she had the door open with her hairpins and looked back at me.

"It's a skill I was forced to acquire growing up where I did. Don't you dare judge me for it. Be thankful I can."

"Ow I'm not judging, I'm just amazed. How did you get all of that in your cage without Kevin finding out?"

I asked while I followed her like a lost puppy, curious as to what her plan would be.

"Careful planning and a bit of luck."

Iris marched straight to basement and walked to the more heavy tools Kevin kept at a workbench before marching back to the front door.
Instead of working on that lock with the pins like the other ones, she just took an ax and a big hammer and started hacking away at the door while cursing passionately at Kevin.
Venting her frustration about everything he had done to her.

It started to dawn on me that Iris had found the perfect time and means to escape.
She knew exactly where everything she needed was.
Every time Kevin had taken her to the time out room, she had been looking out for things she could use as he brought her there.
Over time she had somehow managed to even gather stuff in her cage to help her.

And while I and even Kevin thought she was starting to break, she stayed strong and focused on her goal.
Where I had long given up on ever getting out, she kept looking.

I flinched with every strike at the door with the ax, while I watched in awe and slight terror at what was going to happen.
A few hard kicks against the lose pieces of wood and Iris had made a hole big enough for us to go through.
The sweat was dripping of her face, but she was glowing with pride.